The International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies (initially known as the League of Red
Cross Societies) is a humanitarian institution that is part
of the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement along with the ICRC and 186
distinct National
Societies. Founded in 1919 and based in Geneva, Switzerland, it coordinates activities
between the National Societies in order "to improve the lives of
vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity"[1]. On an
international level, the Federation leads and organizes, in close
cooperation with the National Societies, relief assistance missions
responding to large-scale emergencies.

History

Advertisements

Founding

In 1919, representatives from the National Red Cross Societies
of Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the US came together in Paris
to found the League of Red Cross Societies whose stated
goal was "to strengthen and unite, for health activities,
already-existing Red Cross Societies and to promote the creation of
new Societies"[2]. The
original idea was Henry Davison's, then president of the American Red
Cross. This move, led by the American Red Cross, expanded the
international activities of the Red Cross Movement beyond the
strict mission of the ICRC to include relief assistance in response
to emergency situations which were not caused by armed conflict
(such as man-made or natural disasters). The American Red Cross
already had great disaster relief mission experience extending back
to its foundation.

Henry Pomeroy Davison, founding father of the
League of Red Cross Societies.(Picture from: www.redcross.int)

The formation of the League, as an additional international Red
Cross organization alongside the ICRC, was not without controversy
for a number of reasons. The ICRC had, to some extent, valid
concerns about a possible rivalry between both organizations. The
foundation of the League was seen as an attempt to undermine the
leadership position of the ICRC within the movement and to
gradually transfer tasks and competencies to a multilateral
institution. In addition to that, all founding members of the
League were National Societies from countries of the Entente or from
associated partners of the Entente. The original statutes of the
League from May 1919 contained further regulations which gave the
five founding societies a privileged status and, due to the efforts
of Henry P. Davison, the right to permanently exclude the National
Red Cross Societies from the countries of the Central Powers,
namely Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and in addition to that the National Red
Cross Society of Russia. These
rules were contrary to the Red Cross principles of universality and
equality among all national societies, a situation which furthered
the concerns of the ICRC.

Missions
begin

The first relief assistance mission organized by the League was
an aid mission for the victims of a famine and subsequent typhus
epidemic in Poland. Only five
years after its foundation, the League had already issued 47
donation appeals for missions in 34 countries, an impressive
indication of the need for this type of Red Cross work. The total
sum raised by these appeals reached 685 million Swiss Francs, which
were used to bring emergency supplies to the victims of famines in
Russia, Germany, and Albania; earthquakes in Chile, Persia, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Turkey; and refugee flows in Greece and Turkey. The first large-scale
disaster mission of the League came after the 1923 earthquake in
Japan which killed about 200,000 people and left countless more
wounded and without shelter. Due to the League's coordination, the
Red Cross Society of Japan received goods from its sister societies
reaching a total value of about $100 million. Another important new
field initiated by the League was the creation of youth Red Cross
work within the National Societies.

A stamp from Turkey to support the Red Crescent, 1928.

A joint mission of the ICRC and the League in the Russian Civil
War from 1917 to 1922 marked the first time the Movement was
involved in an internal conflict, although still without an
explicit mandate from the Geneva Conventions. The League, with
support from more than 25 National Societies, organized assistance
missions and the distribution of food and other aid goods for civil
populations affected by hunger and disease. The ICRC worked with the Russian Red
Cross Society and later the Society of the Soviet Union, constantly emphasizing the
ICRC's neutrality. In 1928, the "International Council" was founded
to coordinate cooperation between the ICRC and the League, a task
which was later taken over by the "Standing Commission". In the
same year, a common statute for the Movement was adopted, defining
the respective roles of the ICRC and the League within the
Movement.

During the Abyssinian War between Ethiopia and Italy from 1935 to 1936, the League contributed
aid supplies worth about 1.7 million Swiss Francs. Because the
Italian fascist regime under Mussolini refused any cooperation with the
Red Cross, these goods were delivered solely to Ethiopia. During
the war, an estimated 29 people lost their lives while being under
explicit protection of the Red Cross symbol, most of them due to
attacks by the Italian Army. During the Civil War in
Spain from 1936 to 1939 the League once again joined forces
with the ICRC with the support of 41 National Societies. In 1939 on
the brink of the Second World War, the League relocated its
headquarters from Paris to Geneva to take advantage of Swiss
neutrality.

In 1952, the 1928 statute of the Movement was revised for the
first time.

In the 1960s there was a marked increase in the number of
recognized national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies due to decolonization.
By the end of the 1960s, there were more than 100 societies around
the world. On December 10, 1963, the Federation (still known as the
League of Red Cross Societies) and the ICRC jointly received the
Nobel Peace Prize.[3]

In 1983, the League was renamed to the "League of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies" to reflect the growing number of National
Societies operating under the Red Crescent symbol. Three years
later, the seven fundamental principles of the Movement as adopted
in 1965 were incorporated into its statutes. The name of the League
was changed again in 1991 to its current official designation the
"International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies".
In 1997, the ICRC and the Federation signed the Seville
Agreement which further defines the responsibilities of both
organizations within the Movement.

In 2004, the Federation began its largest mission to date after
the tsunami disaster in South
Asia. More than 40 National Societies have worked with more
than 22,000 volunteers to bring relief to the countless victims
left without food and shelter and endangered by the risk of
epidemics.

Activities and
responsibilities

The Federation coordinates cooperation between National Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies throughout the world and supports
the foundation of new National Societies in countries where no
official society exists. A National Society is admitted as a member
to the Federation only after it is recognized by the ICRC. On the
international stage, the Federation organizes and leads relief
assistance missions after emergencies like natural disasters, man
made disasters, epidemics, mass refugee flows, and other
emergencies.

The Federation cooperates with the National Societies of the
affected countries - called the Host National Society
(HNS) - as well as the National Societies of other countries
willing to offer assistance - called Partner National
Societies (PNS). Among the 187 National Societies admitted to
the General Assembly of the Federation as full members or
observers, about 25-30 regularly work as PNS in other countries.
The most active are the American Red Cross, the British Red
Cross, the German Red Cross, and the Red Cross
Societies of Sweden and Norway. Another major mission of
the Federation which has gained attention in recent years is its
commitment to work towards a codified, worldwide ban on the use of
land mines and to bring
medical, psychological, and social support for people injured by
land mines.

The tasks of the Federation can be summarized as follows:

to promote humanitarian principles and values

to provide relief assistance in emergency situations of large
magnitude

to support the National Societies with disaster preparedness
through the education of voluntary members and the provision of
equipment and relief supplies

to support local health care projects

to support the national societies with youth-related
activities

Organization

The Federation has its secretariat in Geneva. It also runs seven permanent zone
offices and has delegates in more than 60 delegations around the
world. The legal basis for the work of the Federation is its
constitution. The executive body of the Federation is its
secretariat, led by a Secretary General. The secretariat is
structured into three divisions called "Support Services",
"Coordination & Programmes" and "Policy &
Communications".[4] The
highest body of the Federation is the General Assembly which
convenes every two years with delegates from all National
Societies. Among other tasks, the General Assembly elects the
Secretary General. Between the convening of General Assemblies, the
Governing Board is the leading body of the Federation. It has the
authority to take decisions for the Federation in a number of
areas. The Governing Board consists of the president and the vice
presidents of the Federation, the chairman of the Finance
Commission, and twenty representatives from elected National
Societies.

Funding and financial
matters

The main parts of the budget of the Federation are funded by
contributions from the National Societies and through revenues from
investments. The criteria for the statutory contributions of each
member society are established by the Finance Commission and
approved by the General Assembly. Any additional funding,
especially for unforeseen relief assistance missions, is raised by
appeals published by the Federation and comes from voluntary
donations by National Societies, governments, other organizations,
corporations, and individuals.

Emblem, mottos, and
mission statement

The emblem of the Federation is the combination of a red cross
and a red crescent on a white background, surrounded by a red
rectangular frame without any additional text. The red cross, the
original symbol of the Movement, is on the left while the red
crescent appears to the right. Per Humanitatem ad Pacem is
the primary motto of the Federation (Article 1 of the Constitution
of the Federation). The mission statement of the International
Movement as formulated in the "Strategy 2010" document of the
Federation is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by
mobilizing the power of humanity. From 1999 to 2004, the
common slogan for all activities of the International Movement was
The Power of Humanity. In December 2003, the 28th
International Conference in Geneva adopted the conference motto
Protecting Human Dignity as the new slogan for the entire
Movement.

Relationships within the
Movement

The International Red Cross Memorial in Solferino, Italy.

The Federation has come into conflict with the ICRC at various
times, first and foremost when the American Red Cross threatened to
supplant the ICRC with its creation of the League as "a real
international Red Cross" after the First World War[5].
Several agreements about the respective roles of the organizations
helped to smooth relations, beginning with the agreement of 1928,
the 1997 Seville Agreement and most recently
the Supplementary Measures of 2005. The Seville Agreement gives the
Federation the lead in any emergency situation which does not take
place as part of an armed conflict (in which case the ICRC takes
charge). Organizational discord has now largely subsided [6]
Currently, the Secretariat has a Movement Cooperation Unit
dedicated to organizing interaction and cooperation with the
ICRC.